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Storm’s damage forces family of six to relocate

No one injured when maple tree smashed into boys’ bedroom

Request to buy this photoTOM DODGE | DISPATCHShawn Kothe and his 9-year-old son, Thomas, move furniture into a new rental house. The Westerville house the family had been living in was damaged by last week’s storm.

Request to buy this photoCOURTNEY HERGESHEIMER | DISPATCHA tree crushed the corner of the Kothe family’s house on
N. State Street when last Friday’s storms blew through.

Request to buy this photoLydia Coutré | DispatchThis image taken after the tree was removed shows the damage to the front side of the house.

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The sky grew dark, and the winds gained strength outside as Amanda Kothe prepared dinner for her family last Friday in Westerville.

The night was planned: After a meal of French-bread pizza, the family would head to Michigan for vacation.

The bags were packed, and the food was hot.

Her husband, Shawn Kothe, was working late, so it was just her and the kids — Thomas, 9; Joseph, 7; Noah, 5; and Lukas, 2. They were sitting down for dinner when they heard a sound that would change everything.

“It was like a crack,” Thomas said. “I thought it was just something that cracked in the house.”

Amanda Kothe, who is 61/2 months pregnant, herded her children into the bathroom to keep them safe in the tub while she investigated the sound. Thomas, the oldest, said he wasn’t scared as he tried to calm his brothers, including a crying Lukas.

Next door, Kevin Metzger was grilling on his front porch. He was inside briefly when he heard the noise his wife, Suzanne, thought was just a branch.

“He said, ‘No, it’s a tree,’ ” she said. “He picked up the phone to dial 911, and I ran out the back to get them and bring them over.”

She carried the family’s suitcases — already packed and downstairs for vacation — back to her house, followed closely by the boys and their dog, Rocky.

A maple tree from the Metzgers’ yard had fallen into the front left corner of the Kothes’ house — the bedroom of the three oldest boys.

A couple of hours earlier, the kids were upstairs building forts in their room. A couple of hours later, most nights, they would have been asleep.

“The tree was literally laying right where (Joseph’s) head would have been laying,” Shawn Kothe said.

Scott Johnson, who works for Johnson’s Tree Service, arrived Tuesday to remove the tree.

“This is the worst one we’ve seen yet,” he said as his crew worked. “We’ve been taking a lot of trees off houses, but nothing like this — this is severe.”

The family stayed with Amanda Kothe’s sister until they found a new house to rent. As many with restored power settle back into normal life, the Kothes will settle into a new home.

Shawn Kothe sat on a dresser in the living room of the new house yesterday among furniture he and his neighbors salvaged.

Thomas, who was helping his dad move, played with various pets he brought out one at a time: a Chinese water dragon, a hamster, a snake.

The family had been renting the N. State Street house damaged in the storm with hopes of moving to the country in February. This week, they signed a new lease, delaying that plan.

Shawn Kothe said he’s thankful they were able to salvage everything except the beds and a lot of the kids’ toys.

For a few days, a sign in front of their house asked for help, and people have offered to do charity drives. But the Kothes have declined. Now that they’ve found a home, they’re doing OK, Shawn Kothe said.

“I’m sure there are other people who need financial help, or whatever else, more than we do now since, like I said, we got most of our stuff out.”